im going to check my timing tommorow,i just bought the car,when i get on it,it tends to ping and have a slight hint of smoke and exhaust has a fuel type smell,the vehicle runs well though.what i am really wondering is that i see ford set the timing at 10 degrees.is that btdc or atdc?also i want to ask i see there is a pointer and a sight hole of sorts.am i trying to get the timing i want at the pointer or in the sight hole?is it going to hurt anything to take some sandpaper to the balancer?i cant see any marks on it what so ever.im sorry for all the questions i just want to make sure im doing everything correctly and to ensure i dont create new issues.thanks.

 

10deg btc is correct.....line up your mark with the pointer with the spout connector out....check out the tech articles..there is a great writeup about it....

 

yea i saw the tech article but some of the detailed questions werent addressed in them.also when folks are adjusting the timing to 13 degrees and up are they going btdc as well or they going to atdc?aslso am i going to mess anything up on the balancer sanding the rust off to read the numbers?all i see on the balancer is a notch that looks like a line on it.

 

Mostly btc, just spray it with WD-40 or something....get close the numbers should be there...just might be hard 2 see

 

throw some wd-40 and sand it. it wont hurt anything. and you always set you base timing to BTDC. make a mark on the degree you want with a piece of chalk or white out

 

sweet!thanks for the advise guys i actually havent got around to doing the timing i had to replace the steering rack today so it sounds like a job for tommorow.